Contour Design Inc v. Chance Mold Steel Company Ltd , 693 F.3d 102 ( 2012 )


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  •           United States Court of Appeals
    For the First Circuit
    Nos. 12-1110; 12-1185
    CONTOUR DESIGN, INC.,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.
    CHANCE MOLD STEEL COMPANY, LTD.,
    a/k/a Chance Mold Company, Ltd.;
    EKTOUCH COMPANY, LTD.,
    Defendants-Appellants.
    APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
    FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
    [Hon. Joseph N. Laplante, U.S. District Judge]
    Before
    Thompson, Selya, and Dyk,*
    Circuit Judges.
    Kathryn Grace Spelman, with whom Daniel H. Fingerman, Daniel
    S. Mount, Kevin M. Pasquinelli, Mount Spelman & Fingerman PC, Peter
    G. Callaghan, and Preti Flaherty Beliveau Pachios PLLP were on
    brief, for defendants-appellants Chance Mold Steel Company, Ltd.,
    a/k/a Chance Mold Company, Ltd., and EKTouch Company, Ltd.
    Lawrence L. Blacker for plaintiff-appellee Contour Design,
    Inc.
    September 4, 2012
    ___________
    *Of the Federal Circuit, sitting by designation.
    DYK, Circuit Judge. In this trade secret misappropriation
    and breach of contract case, defendant Chance Mold Steel Co.
    (“Chance”)1 appeals from a permanent injunction and from a jury
    award of damages.    The injunction, based on a finding of contract
    breach, prohibits Chance from selling, displaying, manufacturing,
    or assisting others in manufacturing a number of ergonomic computer
    mouse products.2    We use the shorthand “selling” or “sale” to refer
    to the injunction’s operative terms. The injunction barred sale of
    specific products that were materially identical to products Chance
    had previously manufactured for Contour Design, Inc. (“Contour”)
    and a new product (not previously manufactured for Contour) known
    as the ErgoRoller.
    Chance challenges the scope of the injunction, arguing
    that the ErgoRoller should not be enjoined, and the duration of the
    injunction   with   respect   to   the    other   products.   Chance   also
    contends that the jury improperly awarded lost profits damages.3
    1
    Defendant EKTouch Co., a company with the same principals,
    business address, and telephone phone number as Chance, sells
    products manufactured by Chance. This opinion will use “Chance” to
    refer collectively to Chance and EKTouch.
    2
    The injunction also required Chance to return various
    materials belonging to the plaintiff, including confidential
    electronic files and firmware.
    3
    In its reply brief, Chance objects to other aspects of the
    damages award, but Chance has waived this argument by failing to
    raise it in its opening brief. See DeCaro v. Hasbro, Inc., 
    580 F.3d 55
    , 64 (1st Cir. 2009) (“[C]ontentions not advanced in an
    appellant's opening brief are deemed waived.”).
    -2-
    We reverse the injunction as applied to the ErgoRoller.                We affirm
    the scope of the injunction as applied to the other enjoined
    products, and we affirm the damages award.4
    I. Background
    Plaintiff Contour is a corporation based in New Hampshire
    (and incorporated in Delaware) that sells ergonomic computer mice.
    In 1995, Contour and Chance, a Taiwanese manufacturer, entered into
    negotiations for a contract whereby Chance would manufacture mice
    for Contour.      In connection with the negotiations, Chance and
    Contour executed a non-disclosure agreement (“NDA”) and a letter of
    intent on June 15, 1995.          In the NDA, in exchange for receiving
    Contour’s   confidential information          related   to   ergonomic    mice,
    Chance agreed not to disclose this information to others and not to
    “duplicate, produce, manufacture or otherwise commercially exploit
    . . . product[s] derived from or based on” Contour’s products.
    J.A. 157-58.     The NDA expires on June 15, 2015.
    On   December   1,    1995,     the   parties    entered    into   a
    manufacturing supply agreement, and for the next fourteen years,
    Chance manufactured mice for Contour, including the RollerMouse
    4
    While the damages award encompassed Contour’s lost sales as
    a result of Chance’s marketing of the ErgoRoller, on appeal Chance
    makes no challenge to the damages award on this basis. We note
    that the evidence before the district court at the hearing on the
    injunction with respect to the ErgoRoller was different than the
    evidence presented to the jury for the award of damages; for
    example, the parties’ stipulation that certain aspects of the
    ErgoRoller were independently developed was entered into after the
    jury trial.
    -3-
    Free.   As part of product development, Chance would work from a
    prototype to create electronic files representing its shape, and
    would use these files to create “molds” for mass production.         Over
    the course of their relationship, Contour paid Chance over $40
    million.
    Contour stopped placing orders with Chance in 2009, after
    Chance began to sell its own competing product, the ErgoRoller.
    Thereafter, in a now-admitted violation of the NDA and trade secret
    law, Chance sold its existing inventory of Contour products to
    third   parties   and   manufactured   and   sold   materially   identical
    versions of these products under different names (the “Classic,”
    “Open,” and “Professional”).      Chance also continued to sell the
    ErgoRoller, but whether this violated the NDA or trade secret law
    is hotly disputed. In December 2009, Contour sued Chance for trade
    secret misappropriation under the New Hampshire Uniform Trade
    Secrets Act (“NHUTSA”), N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 350-B:1 to -B:9, and
    breach of contract (the NDA), challenging the sale of Contour’s
    preexisting products and the sale of the ErgoRoller.
    The district court granted a preliminary injunction,
    which required Chance to stop selling and recall inventory of the
    preexisting products and return their molds, but which did not
    extend to the ErgoRoller.      This court affirmed.      Contour Design,
    Inc. v. Chance Mold Steel Co., 
    649 F.3d 31
     (1st Cir. 2011).
    Thereafter, a jury found for Contour on its misappropriation and
    -4-
    contract claims and awarded $7.7 million in compensatory damages.
    The district court then granted exemplary damages for willful and
    malicious misappropriation as well as attorneys’ fees.                      Contour
    Design, Inc. v. Chance Mold Steel Co. (“District Court Findings”),
    No. 09–CV–451, 
    2011 WL 6300622
    , at *15-17 (D.N.H. Dec. 16, 2011),
    ECF No. 228.    Based on breach of the NDA, the district court also
    entered a permanent injunction until the expiration of the NDA on
    June 15, 2015, against the sale of preexisting products and the
    ErgoRoller.     Id. at *17-21, 28-29; Contour Design, Inc. v. Chance
    Mold Steel Co. (“Permanent Injunction”), No. 09-CV-451 (D.N.H. Dec.
    16, 2011), ECF No. 229.
    Chance     timely        appealed   the    permanent        injunction,
    challenging the inclusion of the ErgoRoller and its duration as to
    other products.       We have       jurisdiction     pursuant    to    28    U.S.C.
    § 1292(a)(1).    Chance also timely appealed from the final judgment
    awarding damages, challenging the jury’s award of lost profits,
    over which we have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.                    We
    consolidated the two appeals. We consider first Chance’s appeal of
    the injunction, and then the damages appeal.
    II. Injunction
    With    respect     to    the   computer   mouse   products        Chance
    marketed as the Classic, Open, and Professional, there is no
    question that Chance misappropriated Contour’s trade secrets and is
    liable for that misappropriation; Chance does not appeal the
    -5-
    finding of misappropriation, the finding that the misappropriation
    was willful and malicious, or the entry of an injunction barring
    sale of the Classic, Open, and Professional (other than challenging
    its duration).   While Chance has clearly engaged in inappropriate
    corporate behavior in violation of state trade secret law and in
    breach of the NDA, the fact that some of its conduct was unlawful
    does not mean that all of its conduct was unlawful.      We cannot
    simply assume that all of Chance’s actions are tarred by the same
    brush.
    The central question here is whether Chance’s attempted
    design-around, the ErgoRoller, was properly enjoined.   “We review
    a district court’s grant of a permanent injunction for abuse of
    discretion; we review its underlying conclusions of law de novo and
    any factual findings for clear error.” The Shell Co. (P.R.) v. Los
    Frailes Serv. Station, Inc., 
    605 F.3d 10
    , 19 (1st Cir. 2010).   The
    permanent injunction was based entirely on Contour’s breach of
    contract claims, not its trade secret misappropriation claims.
    Interpretation of the NDA is governed by New Hampshire law.5
    5
    A choice-of-law provision in the contract selects Colorado
    law, but the district court properly concluded that New Hampshire
    law applies.   A federal court sitting in diversity applies the
    choice-of-law rules of the forum state. See Klaxon Co. v. Stentor
    Elec. Mfg. Co., 
    313 U.S. 487
    , 496 (1941). “Under New Hampshire
    law, ‘[w]here parties to a contract select the law of a particular
    jurisdiction to govern their affairs, that choice will be honored
    if the contract bears any significant relationship to that
    jurisdiction.’”   In re Scott, 
    999 A.2d 229
    , 237-38 (N.H. 2010)
    (alteration in original) (quoting Hobin v. Coldwell Banker
    Residential Affiliates, 
    744 A.2d 1134
    , 1137 (N.H. 2000)). Here,
    -6-
    This issue arises against the background of Bonito Boats,
    Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc., 
    489 U.S. 141
    , 156 (1989), in
    which the Supreme Court held that federal preemption under the
    patent laws requires “that ideas once placed before the public
    without     the   protection    of   a   valid     patent   are    subject   to
    appropriation without significant restraint” by state laws. At the
    same time, the Supreme Court has made clear that state contract law
    is not generally preempted.          “State law is not displaced merely
    because the contract relates to intellectual property which may or
    may not be patentable.”         Aronson v. Quick Point Pencil Co., 
    440 U.S. 257
    , 262 (1979).     Private agreements may create liability for
    misappropriation of a product that “was not in the public domain”
    at the time of the agreement.        Id. at 263.    Similarly, “because the
    public awareness of a trade secret is by definition limited, . . .
    ‘the policy that matter once in the public domain must remain in
    the public domain is not incompatible with the existence of [state
    law] trade secret protection.’”             Bonito Boats, 489 U.S. at 155
    (quoting Kewanee Oil Co. v. Bicron Corp., 
    416 U.S. 470
    , 484
    (1974)).
    Here,   the   NDA    imposes     two   obligations     related   to
    Contour’s     “Confidential     Information”       (defined   as     Contour’s
    the only alleged connection with Colorado is that the lawyer who
    drafted the NDA was in Colorado. Because Chance is unable to point
    to any “significant relationship” between the NDA and Colorado, we
    apply New Hampshire law to interpret the NDA.
    -7-
    “inventions,       designs,      methods,      samples,    market   information,
    concepts and ideas”) and “Product” (defined as “computer mouse
    products and related materials”). J.A. 157. First, it bars Chance
    from disclosing, copying, or using the Confidential Information
    without Contour’s consent:
    [Chance] agrees (a) that it has maintained and will
    continue to maintain, and will subject . . . the
    Confidential    Information   to,   processes   and
    procedures designed to prevent the disclosure and
    protect the confidential nature of the . . .
    Confidential   Information,    (b)  to   treat   as
    confidential and preserve the confidentiality of
    . . . all Confidential Information disclosed to
    [Chance] by [Contour] or otherwise coming into the
    possession or control of [Chance], (c) to make no
    use of . . . any Confidential Information except in
    connection with the Evaluation [to evaluate the
    desirability of entering a manufacturing agreement]
    without the prior written consent of [Contour], (d)
    to make no disclosure of . . . any Confidential
    Information to any party without the prior written
    consent of Owner, and (e) to not disclose . . . any
    Confidential Information to any employee or
    consultant who has not executed a confidentiality
    agreement on terms comparable to this Agreement,
    and (f) not to make copies or replicas of the
    Confidential Information . . . .
    Id.6       However, this confidentiality obligation does not apply to
    information that “now is or later becomes in the public domain
    other than as a result of a breach by [Chance].”                Id.   Second, in
    the NDA       Chance   “agrees    that   it will     not   duplicate,   produce,
    manufacture or otherwise commercially exploit the Product, or
    develop any other product derived from or based on the Product,”
    6
    This confidentiality obligation also extends to “the
    Product,” but Contour does not rely on that restriction here.
    -8-
    without Contour’s written agreement. Id. at 158 (emphasis added).
    On each of these two theories the district court barred Chance from
    continued sale of the ErgoRoller.            In each instance we think the
    district court erred.
    First, as to the use of Confidential Information, the
    parties   stipulated     that    the    ErgoRoller     “software    .   .   .   .
    electronics and electrical design were independently developed and
    not derived from Contour’s product or firmware.”           Id. at 2032.     The
    district court concluded, however, that in making the molds for the
    ErgoRoller body, Chance used the confidential electronic files that
    had been used to make the molds for Contour’s RollerMouse Free.
    District Court Findings, 
    2011 WL 6300622
    , at *18.                 The district
    court based    this    ultimate finding       on   a   number   of subsidiary
    findings:     (1)     “the    dimensions,      features,    and     mechanical
    functionality of the ErgoRoller, while not identical to those of
    the Free, are palpably similar”; (2) the engineer who designed the
    ErgoRoller, Mhaco Chiang, “had access to the electronically stored
    files used to produce the molds for the Free”; (3) the development
    time for the ErgoRoller was shorter than it had been for any of
    Contour’s products; (4) Chance failed to elicit “any positive
    evidence that       Chance   independently     developed   the    ErgoRoller’s
    design”; and (5) Mei-Ling Wang (Chance’s general manager) refused
    to testify that the electronic files from the Free would not be
    -9-
    useful for making the ErgoRoller, despite her counsel’s leading
    questions.    Id. at *18-20.
    Findings (1), (3), (4), and (5) are not supported by the
    record.   The ErgoRoller and the Free are not “palpably similar.”
    As the district court stated, “the ErgoRoller is overall squarer
    and more compact in design than the Free, . . . its profile is
    lower,” it “has five buttons while the Free has only four, and the
    ErgoRoller’s buttons are differently shaped from those of the
    Free.” Id. at *6. As mentioned above, the parties stipulated that
    the ErgoRoller’s software, electronics, and electrical design were
    not derived from the Free.
    The record also does not support the finding that the
    development time for the ErgoRoller was unusually short: Steven
    Wang (Contour’s CEO, no relation to Mei-Ling Wang) testified that
    the time from the start of development until commercial launch
    ranged from about one to three years for three of Contour’s
    products, and Mei-Ling Wang testified that the time from the start
    of development until commercial launch was two years for the
    ErgoRoller.   The fact that only six months were needed to create a
    working sample of the ErgoRoller does not suggest that the time for
    commercial development was unusually short.
    It is also incorrect that Chance put forth no positive
    evidence of independent development of the ErgoRoller: Ms. Wang was
    asked whether it is correct that “the molds for the ErgoRoller were
    -10-
    made independently of any molds for the Free,” and she responded,
    “That’s   correct.”       J.A.   2147.        No    witness      testified    to    the
    contrary.     Finally, Ms. Wang was not asked (and thus did not evade
    questions about) whether the electronic files from the Free would
    be useful for making the ErgoRoller.               As discussed below, the only
    relevant testimony was to the contrary.
    To    be   sure,   trade     secret      misappropriation         may   be
    demonstrated by circumstantial evidence, such as access to the
    trade secret by the misappropriating party and similarity between
    the secret and the defendant’s design, a theory on which the
    district court relied here.         See Stratienko v. Cordis Corp., 
    429 F.3d 592
    , 600 (6th Cir. 2005) (citing cases from the Second, Third,
    Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Federal Circuits); 4 Milgrim on
    Trade Secrets § 15.01 & n.16 (Matthew Bender & Co. 2012) (citing
    state and federal cases).7          It is reasonable to assume that a
    similar standard would apply under the confidentiality provisions
    of the NDA.      As the district court found, Chance had access to the
    confidential      electronic     files    used       to   make     molds     for    the
    7
    Although the Supreme Court of New Hampshire has not
    discussed the use of the access-and-similarity test, it has stated
    that the NHUTSA “is New Hampshire’s codification of the Uniform
    Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) . . . [and it] must be construed ‘to
    effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect
    to the subject of [the NHUTSA] among states enacting it.’
    Therefore, opinions rendered by courts interpreting the UTSA[]
    . . . inform our analysis.” Mortgage Specialists, Inc. v. Davey,
    
    904 A.2d 652
    , 662 (N.H. 2006) (quoting N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann.
    § 350-B:8).
    -11-
    RollerMouse Free.       However, as noted above, similarity between
    Chance’s design and Contour’s overall design was not demonstrated.
    The district court speculated that “the electronic files
    used to produce the molds for the Free could be modified to produce
    molds   for    the   ErgoRoller,”   District   Court   Findings,    
    2011 WL 6300622
    , at *20, but there was no testimony that they were in fact
    modified, or that they would even be useful for producing a product
    with    a   different   overall   shape.     Rather,   the   only   relevant
    testimony is that the electronic files for a new product are
    created from the final prototype of the new product, rather than
    being modified from electronic files from old products.             And Ms.
    Wang testified that this was also true for the ErgoRoller: the
    prototype was created by an outside company, and the molding
    process was not started until April or May of 2009, which was after
    the prototype was finished in March 2009.
    The only significant similarity between the Free and the
    ErgoRoller supported by the record is that both have a metal roller
    bar in a trough with an optical sensor that detects movements of
    the roller bar.         But there is       no evidence to establish any
    connection between this feature and the allegedly misappropriated
    information, the electronic files used to make molds for the Free.
    Thus, the record does not support a finding that Chance
    used Contour’s confidential electronic files to make the molds for
    the ErgoRoller, and the district court’s finding to the contrary
    -12-
    was clearly erroneous.     Contour’s theory of misappropriation of
    confidential information fails.
    The   district   court’s   other    basis   for   enjoining   the
    ErgoRoller was its conclusion that the ErgoRoller was “derived
    from” the RollerMouse Free. It is not clear how the district court
    interpreted the “derived from” language in the NDA, aside from
    reading it “to mean what it says.”      Id.   Contour contends that this
    provision is a general non-compete provision, barring competition
    with Contour mouse products.    There is no support for this theory
    in the agreement, which applies only to “derived” products.
    Furthermore, we doubt that a twenty-year worldwide non-compete
    agreement on all ergonomic computer mice with roller bars would be
    upheld under New Hampshire law, again suggesting that the agreement
    should not be interpreted to extend that far.          Cf. Technical Aid
    Corp. v. Allen, 
    591 A.2d 262
    , 267-68 (N.H. 1991) (holding that a
    former employee could not be restricted from servicing any of the
    company’s customers for eighteen months).             We must therefore
    determine the meaning of the term “derived.”
    In patent law, to prove “derivation” under 35 U.S.C.
    § 102(f), the party asserting that the patentee “derived” the
    invention from another must show that the complete invention was
    communicated to the patentee; a partial disclosure is insufficient.
    See Eaton Corp. v. Rockwell Int’l Corp., 
    323 F.3d 1332
    , 1344-45
    (Fed. Cir. 2003).   We have no doubt that contracting parties may
    -13-
    agree that one party will not copy another’s product, whether or
    not that product would qualify for patent protection. See Aronson,
    440 U.S. at 262.        Here, the prohibition on the sale of a “derived”
    product would cover such copying.             But in this case, it is clear
    that the ErgoRoller is not simply a copy of the Free.              As discussed
    above, the size, shape, and number of buttons are different, and
    the parties stipulated that the ErgoRoller software, electronics,
    and electrical design were independently developed.8               Contour does
    not contend that the Free was copied or that the complete invention
    was derived from the Free.         But Contour does argue that aspects of
    the ErgoRoller were derived from the Free.
    In such circumstances, and absent more explicit language
    in the agreement, we think that the “derived from” language at the
    very       least   requires   appropriation    of   some   novel   property   of
    Contour’s products, not the derivation of features of the Contour
    products well known in the art.          This conclusion is supported by
    the NDA’s exclusion of information in the public domain from its
    8
    In finding that the ErgoRoller was “derived from” the Free,
    the district court also relied on an e-mail from a Chance employee
    to a distributor, which described the ErgoRoller as “a former
    Contour Free.” District Court Findings, 
    2011 WL 6300622
    , at *20;
    see J.A. 1371. But the employee in question, Ms. Tzu-Wen (Lynn)
    Lin, was a salesperson who was hired because she could speak
    English. The fact that a lower-level employee without corporate
    officer responsibility may have characterized the ErgoRoller as “a
    former Contour Free” is not significant given the other evidence of
    differences.
    -14-
    confidentiality obligations, as discussed above.9                       Indeed, the
    district    court    recognized      that   there    is   not    “any    basis    for
    enjoining Chance from making or selling products that are ‘similar’
    to Contour’s, insofar as those products do not misappropriate
    Contour’s trade secrets or use its confidential information.”
    District Court Findings, 
    2011 WL 6300622
    , at *28.
    The     record    is    clear   that    the   ErgoRoller      does   not
    appropriate any novel features of Contour’s products. As discussed
    above, the only significant similarity between the products is that
    both have a metal roller bar in a trough with an optical sensor
    that detects movements of the roller bar.             However, Contour failed
    to introduce evidence that these features were novel, and indeed
    there was    evidence        that   computer   mice with        roller   bars    were
    disclosed in published patents that predated Contour’s “invention.”
    There is no suggestion that using an optical sensor would be
    anything but a common solution to detect motions of the roller bar,
    and the particular electronics used to operate the sensor were
    stipulated to be “not derived from Contour’s product or firmware.”
    J.A. 2032.
    9
    We also note that extending the “derived from” language to
    non-novel properties of Contour’s products might raise preemption
    problems.   As discussed above, a private contract may restrict
    copying of an idea that was not in the public domain at the time of
    contracting, but may not “withdraw any idea from the public
    domain.” Aronson, 440 U.S. at 263.
    -15-
    Contour      argues    that     having   a   roller     bar   that   was
    removable was Contour’s idea, but the NDA only prohibits Chance
    from producing a “product derived from or based on the Product,”
    where   “the    Product”   is    defined     as   Contour’s    “computer    mouse
    products and related materials.” Id. at 157-58. None of Contour’s
    commercial products utilized a removable roller bar. While some of
    Contour’s prototypes did use a removable bar, the ErgoRoller was
    not similar to these products.           See District Court Findings, 
    2011 WL 6300622
    , at *6 (stating that the ErgoRoller’s removable bar “was
    not achieved by placing the roller bar on a hinged axle, as in the
    original prototype of the RollerMouse Free, but by placing the
    roller bar in a trough in which it slides and rotates freely”).                  In
    any event, Contour’s CEO, Steven Wang, admitted that the idea of a
    computer mouse with a removable roller bar was disclosed in U.S.
    Patent No. 4,799,049, which issued in 1989, six years before the
    NDA was signed.         Thus, there was no proof that any aspect of
    Chance’s ErgoRoller product was derived from any novel feature of
    Contour’s products.
    In    sum,   the     district    court   erred     in   extending    the
    injunction to Chance’s ErgoRoller product because the record does
    not support the finding that Chance breached the NDA in producing
    the ErgoRoller.      However, we see no error in the duration of the
    injunction as applied to the other enjoined products. The district
    court granted an injunction based on breach of the NDA until June
    -16-
    15, 2015, which is the expiration date of the NDA.   This was not an
    abuse of discretion in light of the limited duration of the
    injunction.   See Ross-Simons of Warwick, Inc. v. Baccarat, Inc.,
    
    217 F.3d 8
    , 14 (1st Cir. 2000) (finding no abuse of discretion in
    the scope of a permanent injunction that “specifically enforces the
    contract” signed by the parties).
    III. Damages
    Chance also appeals the jury’s $7.7 million compensatory
    damages award, arguing that the jury instructions on lost profits
    were erroneous because they did not specify that “Contour must have
    been capable of manufacturing its products during the relevant
    period.”   Appellants’ Br. 44-45.     Chance failed to object to the
    jury instruction on lost profits at trial.10       “Absent adequate
    objections to the instructions, our review is for plain error,”
    which is “rare indeed . . . in a civil case.”        Sony BMG Music
    Entm’t v. Tenenbaum, 
    660 F.3d 487
    , 503 (1st Cir. 2011).    We see no
    plain error here.   Plain error requires, among other things, that
    10
    At the charge conference, the district court informed the
    parties, “I’ve given you copies of the instructions that I think
    incorporate your objections and proposals and my rulings on them
    . . . and I assume you’ll want to make a record of whatever issues
    you want to make a record of . . . .” J.A. 1705. Contour raised
    a number of objections, including arguing for some changes to the
    lost profits section of the instructions.       Chance, responding
    specifically to this objection, stated, “We agree with the order
    the way it is presented.” Id. at 1720. The court then said to
    Chance, “I’ve heard Contour’s objections to the jury instructions.
    Do you have any objections you’d like to raise?” Id. at 1721.
    Chance responded, “No, your Honor.” Id.
    -17-
    the instruction be clearly incorrect.                       See United States v. Brown,
    
    669 F.3d 10
    , 28 (1st Cir. 2012).                        It was not.
    In a breach of contract action, the New Hampshire Supreme
    Court    “will    uphold         an    award       of    damages       for    lost   profits      if
    sufficient data existed indicating that profits were reasonably
    certain to result” but for the breach.                           George v. Al Hoyt & Sons,
    Inc., 
    27 A.3d 697
    , 709 (N.H. 2011) (quoting Petrie-Clemons v.
    Butterfield, 
    441 A.2d 1167
    , 1171 (N.H. 1982)) (internal quotation
    mark    omitted);        see      E.     Mountain          Platform          Tennis,     Inc.     v.
    Sherwin-Williams Co., Inc., 
    40 F.3d 492
    , 502 (1st Cir. 1994).
    Unlike in the patent infringement cases cited by Chance, in which
    the patentee seeking lost profits must prove that but for the
    misappropriation it had “the manufacturing and marketing capability
    to exploit the demand,” see, e.g., Siemens Med. Solutions USA, Inc.
    v. Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics, Inc., 
    637 F.3d 1269
    , 1287
    (Fed. Cir.       2011),      a    distributor            seeking       lost    profits    from     a
    supplier for breach of contract need only prove that it would have
    made the profits but for the breach.
    Here, the district court instructed the jury that Contour
    seeks     “lost        profits         as      a        result     of        Chance’s     alleged
    misappropriation in breaching the NDA,” and that in order to award
    lost    profits,       the   jury       must       find    (1)    that       the   profits      “are
    reasonably ascertainable”; (2) that they “were not reasonably
    preventable       by    Contour”;           (3)     “that        the    lost       profits      were
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    proximately caused by the misappropriation”; and (4) “that Chance
    had a reason to foresee at the time the contract was formed that
    those lost profits would result from the breach.”    J.A. 1753-54.
    We see no plain error in these instructions.   The fact that Contour
    did not produce its products itself did not preclude damages.   But
    for the breach, it could have made the lost profits by employing
    another company to manufacture the products (as it had employed
    Chance initially), and Contour could then have profited by selling
    them.   We thus affirm the jury award of damages.
    IV. Conclusion
    For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the injunction as
    applied to Chance’s ErgoRoller, affirm the injunction as applied to
    the other enjoined products, affirm the jury award of damages, and
    remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
    Affirmed-in-part, reversed-in-part, and remanded.    Appellee shall
    recover one-half its costs.
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